Hi guys, I put down my first rum wash last weekend which was all molasses (no sugar) from the produce store.I attempted to clarify it by heating 1 part molasses to 2 parts water held at a temp of 85deg for 14hrs.I waited until it cooled to 37 then racked it off to a fermenter but there was no sediment in the bottom (slight amount of very fine sediment about 2mm thick).

I was expecting some thick sludge to remain but it seems that the clarification process was a complete waste of time and electricity.

Did I let it cool enough to allow for the separation of solids or is it more likely that the molasses is of good enough quality that I can skip the clarification process in future?

Also, I used 15kg molasses to around 35l water to get an SG of 1.132. Does that sound about right for an all molasess rum wash?

The time seems a little long. But it needs to set for a few days with a clearing agent or about a week without. I don't worry about it and a lot of companies worry about it as well. I have taken it all over to the still the yeast as well. The SG may be to high for bakers yeast. The yeld is low but for bakers yeast go to about the SG 1080 and FG is about 1030.

Cheersbigears wrote:The time seems a little long. But it needs to set for a few days with a clearing agent or about a week without. I don't worry about it and a lot of companies worry about it as well. I have taken it all over to the still the yeast as well. The SG may be to high for bakers yeast. The yeld is low but for bakers yeast go to about the SG 1080 and FG is about 1030.

Thanks bigears. I checked the FG today and its stopped at 1.075 which would give me an ABV of 7.1% As I've never used this molasses I just worked on fermentable to non-fermentable sugars being around 50/50.

The SG you recommended would give me an ABV of 6.55%. That seems low to me however I've never made rum before so dont really know what to expect.It would be good to hear from the guys (and girls) who do all molasses washes in regards to what abv I should be aiming for.

Cheers

Last edited by Mormash on Thu May 10, 2018 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Graydon wrote:I always wanted to try this myself. I think I'm not up to the challenge quite yet though. Great stuff, Mormash. I hope it turns out nice!

Hi Graydon and welcome. I've never made a rum before so I'm pretty excited about running it this weekend and really curious as to how its gonna taste. I never even drink rum but I've read so many comments of people converting to rum after they taste this style.Time will tell :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hey man, the sg isn't a good indicator with molasses as there's so much suspended solids and unfermentable sugars.

With mine 40Ish L to 180L wash or there abouts. 30 or 40L of back-set. I aim for roughly 8% anyhigher and the yeast create too many off flavours. A cpl b vitamin tabs can help as well as Epsom salts. That said they aren't needed.

coffe addict wrote:Hey man, the sg isn't a good indicator with molasses as there's so much suspended solids and unfermentable sugars.

With mine 40Ish L to 180L wash or there abouts. 30 or 40L of back-set. I aim for roughly 8% anyhigher and the yeast create too many off flavours. A cpl b vitamin tabs can help as well as Epsom salts. That said they aren't needed.

Thanks coffee addict. I used around 35l water to 15l molasess and ended up with a FG of 1.075 giving me an abv of 7.1%.(hydrometer just used as a rough guide)I also used 1tsp DAP, 1tsp Epsom salts, 2 vit b, 1 multi vitamin and 150g lowans.Is there anything about this recipe that you would recommend I change in future?

Cheers

Last edited by Mormash on Tue May 15, 2018 6:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I have a suggestion instead of using 150g dried yeast add a teaspoon to 2ish litres and let it grow when its foaming or very active add that to the rest of the wash. :handgestures-thumbupleft: also under pitching yeast(just sprinkle it on top and make it work) and hot mash temp 35-38c will promote ester production and creates a dried fruit flavour, sulrana prune etc in the aged rum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I forgot to mention that I read quite a lot of post with people stating that all molasess varies and that the amount of fermentable to non fermentable sugars is just a guess until you know what you're dealing with.

My molasses had no information whatsoever as it was just tipped into a 15l cube.

If you're saying that theres no unfermentables do you think I've used too much molasses? It still seems pretty thick to me but as it's my first attempt at a rum I dont know what to expect.

bluc wrote:I have a suggestion instead of using 150g dried yeast add a teaspoon to 2ish litres and let it grow when its foaming or very active add that to the rest of the wash. :handgestures-thumbupleft: also under pitching yeast(just sprinkle it on top and make it work) and hot mash temp 35-38c will promote ester production and creates a dried fruit flavour, sulrana prune etc in the aged rum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks for the suggestions bluc. I'm always worried about under pitching yeast as I dont want a wild infection. Do you believe that less is more when it comes to pitching yeast? Do you find that less yeast makes for a better flavour profile?

Thanks guys I'll give that a shot next time I start a new generation. With the following generations do you guys remove some of the old yeast bed or just leave all of the remaining yeast in the bottom of the fermenter and mix another wash on top?

Last edited by Mormash on Tue May 15, 2018 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mormash wrote:Thanks guys I'll give that a shot next time I start a new generation. With the following generations do you guys remove some of the old yeast bed or just leave all of the remaining yeast in the bottom of the fermenter and mix another wash on top?

:text-+1: just add more molasses and water. And dunder if you want. Dont pour boiling liquid on the yeast it will wipe it out :handgestures-thumbupleft: But in case you do by mistake, just add more yeast. The dead yeast will then become food for the new yeast :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Last edited by bluc on Tue May 15, 2018 8:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Not sure if its helpful but next time you try and clarify try squeezing a lemon into the clarifying bucket.You may just have good molasses but last time I clarified mine (a fair while ago) I got 1/2" of solids in the fermenter with about 6 liters of the black goo and 20 liters of hot water from the tap overnight.